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100 years of US routes: 1926-2026
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US 266 seems like a strange little highway...
At only 43 miles in length, US 266 is currently the second-shortest US route.*
It is entirely within the state of Oklahoma, making it the shortest intra-state US route.
US 266 does not even connect with historic US 66...
...all of which lead to the question: why is this even a US route?
*Want historic mileages? Our handy reference book includes the mileages that were published in all 13 of AASHO/AASHTO's historic route logs (spanning the years 1927 to 1989).
An understanding of the history is helpful: in 1926 there was no US 62. West of Henryetta, US 266 followed what is now US 62 for another 90 miles or so, ending at its junction with US 66 in Oklahoma City. So that explains its number... and its existence: it was the precursor to I-40 between OKC and Warner. Four years later, when US 62 was commissioned, it swallowed up the westernmost two-thirds of US 266 (the segment between OKC and Henryetta):
c. 1931, OK DoT
The remaining portion was still important, but since it no longer connected with its implied parent, perhaps its designation should have been changed to x62 or x64. Since it was US 62 that subsumed its former segment, US 162 probably would have been most appropriate, although US 262 might have been less confusing to motorists.
Henryetta
When I-40 was completed through the area in the 1970s, it replaced the functionality of US 266, so that would have been a good time to change it to a state route. On the other hand: ever since US 66 was decommissioned in 1985, US 266 is one of the only surviving routes that recalls the memory of US 66 (the other being its sibling, US 166). These photos show signage for drivers on US 266 as they approach its west terminus, as well as signage at the actual junction:
Morrison, Aug. 2010
Turner, Jun. 2023
(Incidentally, note how US 62 is signed there as if it is a north-south route.) An "End" sign was formerly posted there, but it was gone by 2005:
Lance, 2000
Those signs were posted where US 266 intersects US 62-75. Both of those highways are routed on I-40 as they approach Henryetta from the west. Then they head north together to Okmulgee, on a segment which allows travelers northbound on the Indian Nation Turnpike to continue on to Tulsa. Following are some photos that show the west beginning of US 266 as seen from both southbound and northbound US 62-75, respectively:
Brooks, 2004
Turner, Jun. 2023
Dienhart, Oct. 2024
There, we were looking south on US 75 (which is also westbound US 62); the west beginning of US 266 is to the left. That intersection has always been the terminus, but straight ahead is a newer road, connecting to the Indian Nation Turnpike. Originally, US 62-75 continued to the right, through downtown Henryetta. This photo was taken heading eastward out of Henryetta, via historic northbound US 75/eastbound US 62:
Brooks, Sep. 2005
US 62-75 continued by turning left, and US 266 began straight ahead... and it still does, even though US 62-75 has been rerouted to the right. The first eastbound confirming marker is barely visible in the distance; it is shown close-up here:
Brooks, Sep. 2005
Warner
From there, US 266 roughly parallels I-40 all the way to its eastern terminus in Warner. But before I-40 was built, US 266 came into town via what is now Old State Highway 2 and 3rd Avenue. And until the early 1930s, US 64 did not cut across town diagonally, but rather stayed on 8th Street. So US 266 originally ended on 3rd Av at 8th:
That is looking north on 3rd, and 8th is the crossroad. US 266 originally ended there at US 64. A couple blocks to the left, US 64 used a now-vacated curve to head north on Culwell. But in the 1930s US 64 was changed to use its modern routing through town, so US 266 was extended a block or so ahead. Traffic wanting eastbound US 64 was directed to curve right at the wye visible just ahead, but drivers destined for westbound US 64 would have stayed straight on 3rd, with the US 266 designation ending at US 64:
Traffic heading east on US 64 would have used the slip ramp at far left to turn onto US 266. But westbound US 64 traffic wanting US 266 probably would not have reached this intersection, instead turning off about a block to the right via the wye road shown here:
When I-40 was constructed through the Warner area, apparently an interchange could not be built at the location of US 266's original alignment. So US 266 was changed to its modern configuration south of town; AASHTO acknowledged moving the US 266 designation to this new facility at their June 1973 meeting:
Presumably that is also when the alignment running just west of Culwell was built. The next photo shows the last US 266 trailblazer (just north of I-40), and where that alignment meets US 64 is where US 266 ends today:
Sanderson, Oct. 2024
Lance, 2000
Morrison, Aug. 2010
Sanderson, Oct. 2024
US 64 comes into Warner from the east (right in those photos), but then turns north (straight ahead) to Muskogee and Tulsa. Here, we are looking the opposite direction (south on eastbound US 64):
Morrison, Aug. 2010
Turner, Jun. 2023
US 64 continues to the left there, while straight ahead is the east beginning of US 266. Initially it heads south through an interchange with I-40. After about three miles, it begins heading westward -- and soon crosses the path of I-40 again. Here is the perspective from westbound US 64:
Morrison, Aug. 2010
Turner, Jun. 2023
US 64 continues to the right, and US 266 begins to the left. Travelers who turn that direction will soon encounter the first westbound confirming marker:
Morrison, Aug. 2010
Turner, Jun. 2023
Research and/or image credits: Robert Brooks; Paul Dienhart; Nathan Edgars; Jeremy Lance; Jeff Morrison; Dale Sanderson; Michael Summa; Charles Turner
Page originally created 2000;last updated Aug. 23, 2025.
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